Fall Brawl '96

Legacy Review

Fall Brawl '96

September 15, 1996 from the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes

 

The big question going into tonight's huge WCW vs NWO War Games match is what side is Sting really on? Last week on Nitro, Lex Luger was hanging around the NWO limo in the rain and was jumped by a man coming out of the limo that certainly looked like Sting. Sting's clothes, Sting's face paint. Everyone in WCW is 100% convinced it was Sting, especially commentary, which will be very important in the near future. The follow up question is if Sting has turned, who will WCW's 4th man be in the match? Version 1.0 of the classic NWO shirt has been created and put on sale for the masses, and the arena is covered in them tonight.

Diamond Dallas Page def Chavo Guerrero Jr in 13:07- This got going at the last Clash, where DDP lost to Chavo's uncle Eddie but laid both Guerreros out after the match. Quick Chavo clothesline duck and he dropkicks DDP into the ropes (the Andrade in ropes "tranquilo" pose DDP liked to do), then dropkicks him again out to the floor. Somersault plancha! Rail whip. Chavo whips DDP into the stairs but DDP misses. He kind of sells it anyway. Chavo gets a belt from somewhere and whips DDP with it! Chavo slingshot splash back in for 2. Crossbody for 2. Chavo armdrag into some arm work to let things breathe for a minute. I think Chavo hair pulls DDP a bit, but I was completely distracted by a couple of guys dressed up as Razor Ramon and Ric Flair posing in the crowd. Drop toe hold from Chavo and back to the arm. Another dropkick into the ropes. This time DDP dodges the follow up dropkick and Chavo falls to the floor. It's weird hearing commentary talking about DDP having the experience edge in the match. Big clothesline off the top back in from DDP. That got a pop, and not the last one DDP will get in this match. DDP works a front facelock a bit and goes into beatdown mode. Chavo gets a small package counter for 2 before DDP continues the slow beatdown. Chavo Bret bumps and DDP looks like he's going for a back suplex, but instead completely flips Chavo over and faceplants him! DDP puts on a kind of cobra clutch. A Chavo comeback is cut off with a back elbow for 2. Some crotch thrusts to the face set Chavo off. Kneelift from Chavo. Springboard crossbody. Missile dropkick for 2. Flying headscissors off the top for a long 2. DDP gets a back elbow in the corner and tries a leverage pin for 2. He tosses Chavo over both top ropes into ring 1! DDP goes over to join him as the match switches rings. Side suplex from DDP for 2. Chavo hits a tiltawhirl headscissors, or a "whirlybirdaround" per Dusty. Chavo dodges in the corner and rolls DDP up for 2. HUGE DDP gutwrench powerbomb for 2. He calls for the Diamond Cutter. Chavo tries to counter with a backslide. DDP blocks, stomps on his foot, and hits the Cutter! It's all over. Clean win for DDP. Good stuff, and very interesting crowd reactions as they were at worst split 50/50 with DDP getting quite a bit of fan support. ***1/4

We go to a WCW Special Report with Mean Gene, recapping the whole NWO angle to this point. Kevin Nash's infamous "look at the adjective" line has been cut out of his introductory promo. Since the last PPV Ted DiBiase has been revealed as the NWO's money man, and just last week the Giant turned and joined the NWO. We also get another recap of the Sting incident. It's a little bit long, but a very good summation of everything that's happened so far. Okerlund was the best at this sort of thing with his crisp, concise professionalism.

 

Submission Match: Ice Train (w/Teddy Long) def Scott Norton in 7:08- Somehow this feud continues despite no one in the world giving a damn about it. Norton beat Train by submission in their last PPV match at Hog Wild, so now we get a full on Submission Match this time despite neither guy being anything close to a submission wrestler. Teddy Long's still hanging around WCW as a babyface manager. Basic but spunky start with lots of high impact power moves and decent stiffness. Dusty tries to say "ventriloquist" and it's an absolute hilarious disaster. Train tries to put Norton in something as basic as a chinlock and can't get it right. Long tries to start an "Ice" chant and gets absolutely nowhere. After some more snug back and forth Norton puts a cross armbreaker on. Long teases throwing the towel in but the ref says that won't matter anyway. Heenan gets a good laugh out of me by saying the towel's there so Long can shine his head. Train responds with an almost Fujiwara armbar. As almost as the one that Norton made him tap out to at Hog Wild. Norton hits an Alabama slam into a Boston crab. After some more arm holds Long gets in the ring. Norton grabs him. Train sneaks up and slaps a full neslon on Norton, grounds him, and Norton taps out despite the ref having a mic you're supposed to say "I quit" into. Make this a regular match without trying to "square peg into round hole" these guys into submissions and it could have been a halfway decent power match. *1/4

 

AAA Heavyweight Championship: Konnan (c) (w/Jimmy Hart) def Juventud Guerrera in 13:45- This is for the "Mexican Heavyweight title" per WCW. Mike Tenay joins the booth for this match. Konnan was originally scheduled to defend against Psychosis, but he got hurt so instead Juvy is making his WCW PPV debut. Since Hog Wild Konnan's slow burn heel turn has completed, and he's now part of the lurching zombie corpse that was the Dungeon of Doom at this point. Konnan tricks Juvy into a Code of Honor fist bump and then attacks him. Juvy tries to go into dodge mode but Konnan plants him with a huge German suplex. Konnan lifts Juvy and just TOSSES him out to the floor. Back in Juvy uses the double rings to springboard off three ropes and hit a somersault for 2. Corner kick flurry from Juvy and Konnan goes out to the floor. TOPE SUICIDA! Juvy damn near leaped into about row 5 on that and is just as shook up as Konnan. Juvy tries springboarding off the guardrail but Konnan catches him and plants him with a powerbomb on the floor! Rolling clothesline from Konnan back in. Basement dropkick for 2. Speed run and Konnan literally kicks Juvy in the ass to send him into the dead zone between rings. Flying headscissors from Juvy back into the ring that they didn't pull off 100% right. A kick sends Konnan out and Juvy hits another dive, largely off camera. Springboard dropkick back in. Konnan backdrops Juvy over the top and he lands gut first on the top rope in the other ring! Then Konnan powerbombs him back in! Legbar into an STF from Konnan. Juvy tries a springboard moonsault but comes up short. I think he was supposed to hit that but was so far off target they continued playing it as a miss. Another Konnan powerbomb. He hits a couple of rolling Germans. Juvy rolls out and takes a walk, and surprisingly Konnan lets him. Coming back in Juvy hits another springboard dropkick. Legdrop and cover for 2. They do some maneuvering on the apron and Juvy tries a sunset flip on the floor, but Konnan fights it off and hits a dropkick off the apron. Back in Juvy crotches Konnan and spends a lot of time working him over on the top rope, then backflips off just to let Konnan hit him with a missile dropkick? OK then. Juvy gets a cradle for 2. Konnan tries a suplex but Juvy slips out on the apron and hits a springboard spinning heel kick with a slow cover for 2. HUGE Konnan German. Juvy's too close to the rope but Konnan tries to cover anyway. After about 30 seconds he finally gets it. Yet another Juvy springboard dropkick. Somersault legdrop off the top rope. Konnan gets a foot on the rope. Juvy goes up top and hits a 450 splash for 2. Up top again and he does some weird spinny dive thing for 2. Konnan Alabama slam with a jackknife cover for 2. He sets Juvy up top. Muscle Buster! Well, close to one anyway. Juvy kicks out! Konnan hits Splash Mountain! Juvy's not kicking out of that. Well it was certainly ambitious with a lot of crazy looking spots, and Konnan looked as motivated as at any point in his WCW run (a rarity), but like a lot of lucha stuff on American soil had quite a few points that were either sloppy or very obviously staged, and there was a lot of spottiness with not much glue holding it together. ***

 

Chris Benoit def Chris Jericho in 14:36- A bit of history here as young future legend Jericho makes his WCW PPV debut. At only 26 he was already a seasoned veteran with stops in his native Canada, Mexico, Germany, multiple promotions in Japan and ECW. Jericho's supposed to be the face here and Benoit the heel, but newbie Jericho gets nothing from the crowd while Benoit gets a nice pop in Horsemen country. Besides, WCW's whole face/heel dynamic had been thrown askew company wide thanks to the NWO. They jaw at each other in Canadian after the bell (I'm not your buddy, guy, I'm not your guy, friend. etc). That leads to Canadian slapping, and Benoit plants Jericho on his Canadian posterior. Backdrop from Benoit. Back suplex. He teases another backdrop but hits an Alabama slam instead. That's been a popular move tonight. Benoit puts Jericho into a stacked Boston crab, much like Jericho's own Liontamer. He goes for a powerbomb but Jericho rolls through it. Dropkick from Jericho. Benoit hits some more punches. Jericho responds with a dragon screw. He tries for a clutch but Benoit escapes. Dropkick to Benoit's back. Benoit goes to the apron and Jericho hits his trademark springboard dropkick, but he's still young so he makes it off the top rope instead of the second. Jericho goes up top and hits a big dive, but didn't come down right and splats himself on the apron on the way down. Both guys recover on the floor. Benoit selling, Jericho for real. Coming back in Jericho goes to the top rope to play to the crowd and gets roundly booed. Missile dropkick for 2. Powerbomb for 2. Jericho with a tiger suplex! Benoit's feet are in in the ropes. Slugfest and chops. Jericho hits a spin kick. Benoit back suplexes Jericho from the apron down to the floor! Post shot for Jericho with a nice flop sell. Back in Benoit suplex drops Jericho over the top rope. Back elbow for 2. Another chop exchange. Benoit hooks on an abdominal stretch. Jericho armdrags out. Benoit setup slam with much authority. The flying headbutt hits! He's slow to cover and Jericho kicks out. Jericho gets a small package for 2. Backslide for 2. Benoit butterflys Jericho's arms for a bit, then hits some hard chops in the corner. Another Jericho cradle counter for 2. Standing switches and Jericho gets a northern lights suplex for 2. More slugging. This time Jericho breaks out the chops. Tombstone reversal with Jericho hitting it. He goes for the Lionsault, sees Benoit dodging and lands on his feet, and hits a huge clothesline for 2. Top rope hurricanrana from Jericho for 2. He goes up top again. Benoit counters and Jericho is crotched. Back superplex! That gets Benoit the pin. Good match with lots of promise, but Jericho did have a bit of that "not quite ready for primetime" look in some places, plus being DOA with the crowd as a white meat babyface. We all know he'd get there (starting with his heel turn the next year), and these two would have some absolute barnburners down the road over in Vinceland, the ladder match at the 2001 Royal Rumble probably being the best. ***1/4

 

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Rey Mysterio Jr (c) def Super Calo in 15:47- Calo's another one of Konnan's AAA guys but he didn't stay in WCW long enough to really make any kind of impact. I like how his cap is sewn onto his mask to make sure it stays on the whole match. Tenay jumps in the booth again for this one. They should really just leave him in the whole show and shuffle Dusty off somewhere else if you have to have a third man. Both guys are faces so quick Code of Honor handshake to start. Mysterio gets a quick armdrag out of the lockup. Calo slides out and seems to shake his knee off real quick. Back in he works Mysterio's arm for a bit. Running powerslam from Calo. Elbow off the second rope, followed by some more arm work. Counter run and Mysterio gets another armdrag. Mysterio starts to get rolling and hits a springboard flying headscissors. Calo goes out again and Mysterio does the dive tease and 619 spin. Back in Calo hits a shotgun dropkick. Powerbomb for 2. Tackle off the top rope and he clotheslines Mysterio 360 to the floor. Calo missile dropkick off the top to the floor! He slams Mysterio on the floor. Slingshot senton onto Mysterio on the floor! Calo rolls him back in and covers for 2. Side slam for 2. He tosses Mysterio over to ring 2. Hurricanrana off the top for 2. Calo runs Mysterio's shoulder into the top turnbuckle, then snaps it over the top rope and starts picking it apart. Hiptoss into a short arm scissors. Dropkick to Mysterio's shoulder. They both run into each other in the middle of the ring and both go flying. Not sure what that was supposed to be. Surfboard from Calo. Mysterio rolls out to recover. Slide under and dropkick from Mysterio. Crossbody against the ropes. Calo dangles over the top rope forever with Mysterio stretching him out in a gruesome looking way, and he finally falls to the floor. Not sure if that went to plan or not. Mysterio somersault plancha. Back in Mysterio springboards again. Calo dropkicks him in midair! He goes back to work on Mysterio's arm, snapping it all over every piece of the ring and even the guardrail. While Calo's on the apron Mysterio gets on the ropes and hurricanranas him down to the floor! Baseball slide. Springboard somersault. Mysterio sunset flip back in for 2. Springboard corkscrew for 2. He gets up on Calo's shoulders, but Calo electric chair drops him down. Mysterio dodges a crazy dive, goes into the other ring, springboards off BOTH top ropes, hits a hurricanrana and gets the pin! Crazy finish. Another good lucha style match with more crazy ass spots, still with some rough moments, but overall it's a better cohesive whole than the previous lucha match. ***1/2

 

WCW World Tag Team Championship: Harlem Heat (c) (w/Sister Sherri and Col. Robert Parker) def The Nasty Boys in 15:31- Oh lord, they really did let the Nasty Boys back in the tag title picture. Fine, let's get this over with. Once again I ask why WCW didn't just put the tag belts on the Outsiders at the start and let the NWO roll with all the top gold. Ray and Sags start. Corner pound down from Ray. Sags hits a back elbow and clothesline. Sherri gets on Sags nerves and he rolls out to have a word with her. Ray and Booker shield her while Parker makes it clear Sags is in for a southern fried ass whoopin' if he lays a hand on his chicken pot pie or whatever the hell he called her. After an indecent amount of stalling Ray and Sags lock back up. Ray gets caught in the Nastys corner. He gets a kick on Knobbs and tags Booker, who also lays in some kicks. Knobbs pounds Booker with elbows and hits a clothesline for 2. Nasty double team on Booker. Sags neckbreaker. Knobbs hits another big clothesline with a Booker 360 sell. The Nastys set up for that nastiest of all spots, the pit stop. Sherri gets up to block it and off the distraction Ray hits Knobbs from behind. The champs work Sags to get double teams in. Ray pump kick on Knobbs. They work Knobbs outside and Sherri gets a shot in. Sags goes after Sherri and after some confusion everything resets with Knobbs still in peril. Ray legit can't lift Knobbs for a double team. Knobbs dodges and Booker tumbles to the floor. Tag to Sags, who takes out everyone. He flips Sherri in the ring, then rolls Booker up for a very long 2 that the crowd bit hard on. Piledriver from Sags. Ray breaks the pin up. Everyone in the pool! Sags goes up top. Parker trips him with his cane. It feels like the match is closing in on a finish, but instead they tack on another 5+ minutes with Sags in peril this time. Booker hits the scissors kick and both Sherri and Parker get shots in on the floor. Sags refuses to die and keeps kicking out. Sags ducks a double clothesline, hits a sloppy double faceplant and tags Knobbs. Another house cleaning. He hits Booker with the big splash but the pin is broken up. Water's great, everyone get in the pool again! Parker distracts the ref while the Nastys hit their finisher. Sherri whacks Sags with Parker's cane, and Booker covers for the pin. Meh. It could have been much worse. The Nastys looked like they were actually trying. The Nasty Boys AND Konnan both actually showing some effort? On the SAME SHOW?! What did Bischoff put in the water in the summer of '96? *3/4

 

The Giant def "Macho Man" Randy Savage in 7:47- Savage already has a World title shot at Hogan booked for Halloween Havoc. Nick Patrick is reffing this match, a questionable call seeing how he's all but confirmed to be on the NWO's payroll at this point. Giant comes out to his original Dungeon of Doom music at first, then someone remembers and the NWO's music starts up. Savage punches Giant off the apron, not letting him in the ring. After a few of these exchanges Giant says OK and drags Savage out to the floor. Savage gets the jump on the floor and tries to slam Giant out there. Nothing doing. Giant drags Savage back in the ring and begins the slow beatdown. Giant sized backbreaker and he drapes Savage over his knee. The crowd gets distracted by something happening off on the opposite side of the entrance stage. We never find out what so it must have been someone being stupid. Giant puts on a Boston crab. Savage grabs a rope. Giant thinks Savage gave up and argues with Patrick. One of the good things about this whole "Patrick as the NWO's referee" angle is, at least here at the start, Patrick would still call matches straight up until the point he needed to step in, so it's not as egregious as it could be. Giant hooks on the inevitable bear hug. Savage almost pulls Giant's eye clean out of its socket to get out. He tries coming off the top but Giant catches and slams him. A Giant kneedrop misses and Savage starts working on that knee. For as long as Savage's attention span can last anyway. Savage slams Giant! He goes up top. The elbow hits! Hogan is out and distracts Savage. Savage chases and gets jumped by the Outsiders coming out of the entrance stage, who work him over with a chair. While all this is going on Patrick's having a conversation with Giant about whether the Cowboys can go back to back again and if Barry Switzer really was that good a coach or if he just won with Jimmy's team (the answer is he just won with Jimmy's team). Hogan drags Savage's carcass back and Giant pins him. **

Mike Tenay is in the back with what's left of Team WCW. Sting crashes the promo to plead his case that whoever attacked Luger last week, it wasn't him. Luger doesn't believe him. Sting says "whatever, man" and walks off.

 

War Games: Team NWO def Team WCW in 18:15- Of course Buffer skips over the classic "LET THE WAR GAMES BEGIN" to do his own shtick instead. Greatest ring announcer ever.....at getting himself over. The NWO are keeping their 4th man a secret, while no one's sure if WCW even has a 4th man, including the guys on the team. To help keep the surprises in this match each entrant comes out only when they're getting in the match, the teams aren't at ringside like War Games previous.

P1. Scott Hall and Arn Anderson- No one has more experience in War Games than Arn Anderson. Four Horsemen, Dangerous Alliance, he's been in almost all of them. He gets a hero's welcome in Horsemen country too. Once again Nick Patrick is the referee for this match. Quick and intense back and forth corner slugfest. Hall takes the first cage shot. Corner clothesline from Hall. The back of Arn's head is rammed into the cage. Arn clips Hall's knee and goes to work on it. They swap rings with some more back and forth brawling. Arn puts on a sleeper. Hall back suplexes out. World's Greatest Spinebuster! What a shock, the NWO wins the coin toss. Arn puts on a half crab as time runs down.

P2. Kevin Nash- Arn tries but the Outsiders get a quick 2 on 1 edge. Arn gets run HARD into the cage! The whole wall moved. Nash hits him with snake eyes. The next entrant comes out a good 30 seconds early. With guys coming all the way from the back the adherence to period timings in this match is....not good.

P3. Lex Luger- Luger goes nuts, running the Outsiders into the cage and pummeling them with clotheslines and forearms (he still got that steel plate in there?). Hall gets run into the cage a ton. Nash attacks but Arn is back up and in the fray, kicking off a big 2v2 brawl.

P4. Hollywood Hogan- He also comes out a bit early but steps in the ring literally as the clock hits zero. Luger and Arn gang up on Hogan after he gets in but before long the numbers are too much. They split up with Hogan working Arn over in one ring, the Outsiders all over Luger in the other. They all get back in the same ring with the NWO in control as the period winds down.

P5. Ric Flair- He gets in the empty ring and tells the NWO to come to him. Hogan does. Flair has knucks! Hogan takes a knucks shot. So does Nash. Hall gets low blowed. Figure four on Hogan! Near the end of the period Tony says dejectedly "It's Sting".

P6. NWO Sting- The crowd is instantly deflated. From a distance the look is convincing, but a few fans on the floor can see what's what and start a small "We want Sting" chant. For the record NWO Sting is Jeff Farmer, a jobber/lower midcarder for most of the Bischoff era who had previously been Cobra. He's got some of Sting's moves down, doing a faceplant and hitting the WCW team with Stinger splashes. Again, from a distance in the stands it'd be fairly convincing. Hogan runs Flair into the cage and hits him with the legdrop.

P7. Sting- WHAT?! TWO Stings? The real Sting gets in the ring and stares down fake Sting! It's Undertaker vs Undertaker all over again. Sting on Sting slugfest! Sting helps the faces take back control. Real deal Stinger splashes! His teammates still seem unsure what's going on, especially Luger. Sting sees the looks he's getting, says "That good enough for ya?", gives his teammates a Spaceballs salute and walks out! Damn. The NWO trying to bamboozle everyone with a fake Sting isn't much of a shock. What is a shock, and great storytelling, is the real Sting being so upset no one believed him that he says "fuck all of ya'll" and walks away. The next night on Nitro Sting would give a promo for the ages defending himself, lambasting everyone that didn't trust him and declaring himself a free agent, then vanish for months. When he came back, he'd be a very, very different man. But back to this match. Luger has no idea how to react. Before he can muster up much of a thought Hogan plants him with a big boot, drops the big leg on him and bites Luger's nose. NWO Sting comes over and puts Luger in the Scorpion Death Lock. Hogan adds on a facelock. Patrick comes in, does things right by consulting Randy Anderson for a second opinion, and calls the match because Luger passed out. The NWO win again to the horror of commentary. It's not a top tier War Games up there with the classics, but it's not too far off and definitely the best War Games in several years. As always I'll lament the complete lack of blood in a War Games, but Turner corporate was very strict about such things. ***3/4

After the bell the fight continues. Luger crawls up the aisle calling for and reaching out to Sting. The NWO presses the attack. Savage runs out to join the fray, backing Hogan back to the rings. Hogan begs off. But it's a RUSE, as he sees the Giant coming in to jump Savage from behind. Chokeslam on Savage. The NWO gathers in the ring for the traditional spraypaint ceremony. Elizabeth runs out! She begs Hogan to stop! She even goes so far as to cover up Savage! Hogan says fine and spraypaints the back of Elizabeth's dress instead! A new low. Hogan gets a mic and runs Savage and Elizabeth down as two pieces of trash, and promises to make the "till death do us part" bit true at Halloween Havoc. The main event must have run really short because there's a lot more crowd playing and Liz scaring. Savage eats one more chokeslam. Finally the NWO go over and do a good old fashioned takeover of commentary to close the show.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- WCW's red hot second half of 1996 continues with another show featuring consistent top to bottom quality. Many of the undercard matches deliver, the ones that don't aren't too horrible, and while the main event just misses out on being a truly great War Games it was certainly a very good one, and very effectively set the stage for the next part of the NWO angle, including planting some seeds (namely Sting) that wouldn't come to fruition for a very long time.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B+

Breakdown '98: In Your House

Legacy Review

Breakdown '98: In Your House

September 27, 1998 from the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, ON

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

The fall of 1998 was the pinnacle of the legendary Steve Austin/Mr. McMahon feud, with every week of Raw being must see TV. The recently reunited Undertaker and Kane were now Vince's #1 hired guns, and as more and more desperation set in after Taker failed to take the WWF Title at Summerslam he had no qualms with stacking the deck against Austin as much as he could.

In ring pyro! This is the annual Canada PPV so the crowd should certainly be lively tonight, right in the middle of one of WWF's hottest periods.

Owen Hart def Edge in 9:16- After making his in-ring PPV debut at Summerslam Edge is having his first PPV singles match tonight. Owen was a great choice to help ring general him through it. Fink announcing Edge's hometown as nearby Toronto gets a good pop. Owen comes out in a Toronto Argonauts (CFL) jersey, I guess to try to pander to the crowd. Doesn't work. The "nugget" chants start right away. Commentary mentions Edge's burgeoning relationship with another WWF newcomer, Gangrel. Arm wringer tradeoff to start. Wristlock fight. Edge uses the ropes to flip over and out. Owen kips up and hits an arm slam. Edge kips up. Owen backs him into the corner and hits a back elbow. Monkey flip. Edge lands on his feet and hits a dropkick. Hurricanrana counter by Edge and he clotheslines Owen 360 to the floor. He teases a dive but Owen gets out of the target area and brags about it. When he gets close enough Edge hits him with a baseball slide. Edge tries coming off the apron. Owen catches and powerslams him! That was a hard splat on the floor. Owen missile dropkick back in for 2. Gutwrench suplex for 2. More "nugget" chants from the crowd. Neckbreaker for 2. Speed run and Owen hits the snap belly to belly (not as good as usual) for 2. Edge comes back and Owen cuts it off with a boot up in the corner. Victory roll for 2. Edge reverses it for a long 2. Spinning heel kick from Owen. Edge hits a springboard reverse crossbody for 2. He goes up to the second rope again, then sees Owen dodging and lands on his feet. Owen, in his classic style, celebrates with his back turned. Edge plants him with a DDT! Counter run and Edge hits a northern lights suplex for 2. Owen slips out of a suplex into a German suplex for 2. Edge dodges in the corner and Owen crashes. They go up top and Owen blocks a superplex, sending Edge down. Owen tries coming off the top rope. Edge gets his boots up. Owen sees, lands away from him, and goes for the Sharpshooter! Edge fights it off. Owen bounces off the corner and Edge small packages him for 2. Spinning heel kick from Edge! Hey, there's some guy at ringside with the same long blond hair that Edge has! Commentary says a fan jumped the rail. The unknown guy and Edge stare down. Edge seems to know him. Owen comes from behind with a clutch and gets the pin! After the bell the mystery guy leaves through the crowd and Edge gives chase. This was the debut of Christian, who would be billed as Edge's brother. Which they're not really, but they might as well be. Damn good match as young Edge continues to acquit himself very well in his early PPV matches. ***1/2

 

Al Snow and Scorpio (w/Head) def Too Much in 8:03- After months of being in limbo Snow was finally officially reinstated to the full WWF roster after defeating Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter the previous week on Raw. JR mentions Snow's earlier gimmicks, and that he and Scorpio were in ECW together (letting Lawler get his "Extremely Crappy Wrestling" line in), which is why they're teaming up here. Scott Taylor is now Scott "Too Hot" Taylor, getting closer to his most famous name. Huge "Head" chant after the face's entrance. Canada loves Head. Everyone loves Head. Well, except for Taylor, he doesn't like the chants at all. He and Scorpio start. Shoving and Taylor hides in the ropes. After some back and forth Scorpio hits an atomic drop and swing kick. Pumphandle slam from Taylor, followed by a kip up and moonwalk while Christopher brays from the apron. I seriously think Brian Christopher, as a wrestler, might be the most annoying human being alive. He's like a tropical skin disease made flesh. Both sides tag. Speed run with Christopher doing a leapfrog that Snow apparently wasn't prepared for and they have to quickly recover. Snow traps Christopher's arms and headbutts him. Taylor runs into a backdrop. Scorpio hits corner clotheslines. Snow throws a chair in. Scorpio distracts the ref and Snow launches off the chair and heel kicks Taylor! That ECW experience coming in handy. Now Scorpio goes for a chair launch. He almost slips off the chair and barely gets in the vicinity of hitting the kick he was going for. Everyone sells it anyway. .8 Sabu botch. The match breaks down with everyone fighting. Scorpio hits Taylor with a splash off the top, but then pulls him up at 2. On the floor Snow hits Christopher with a moonsault off the barricade. Much easier to do with those new giant padded barricades now. Back in Christopher cuts off a double team, sending Scorpio to the floor. Christopher suplexes him on the floor and Scorpio goes in peril. Double backdrop that Scorpio does an awful bump off of. Bulldog from Christopher. Another double backdrop and this time Scorpio lands on his feet. That might have been what he was going for the first time. Scorpio double dropkicks the heels and tags. Snow comes in swinging Head everywhere and wildly. Everyone takes a shot, including Scorpio. Christopher breaks a pin up with a legdrop off the top rope. Then Scorpio breaks a pin up with a splash from the top rope. Snow hits the Snow Plow and gets the pin. There were a whole lot of big moves in this match, but very few of them felt like they mattered. Spotty and sloppy. *3/4

 

"Marvelous" Marc Mero (w/Jacqueline) def Droz in 5:12- Jacqueline had just won the revived Women's title, which had been deactivated for nearly three years after Alundra Blayze (Medusa) left for WCW and dumped the old belt in a trash can. She was quickly becoming the second woman to be Mero's valet and completely overshadow him. I suppose before going any further I should say RIP Droz, who passed away just a few days before I sat down to write this. Mero gets the quick jump after the bell. Droz responds with a slam and clothesline. A dropkick sends Mero to the floor. He walks and Droz attacks him in the aisle. Back in Mero hits a kneelift. Jacqueline gets her shot in. Tackle from Droz and another clothesline. Mero backdrops Droz to the floor. Somersault plancha! Mero's boot landed right on Droz's head but he was a football player, he's good. Droz gets his knees up on a slingshot splash. Kind of tackle/diving back elbow combo from Droz. Inverted atomic drop. Powerslam. Jacqueline gets Mero's foot on the rope. Droz yells at her and Mero attacks from behind. He takes his tape off and chokes Droz. The ref sees it and gets all over Mero. But it's a RUSE. On the other side of the ring, Jacqueline comes off the top rope and nails Droz with her Shoe of Deadly Pointiness +1. Mero set Droz up and goes up top. Shooting star press! Guess he's healthy enough to do that again. He's calling it the "Marvelocity" now. That gets the pin. 3/4*

 

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Bradshaw def Vader in 7:56- I don't remember exactly what the beef was here, other than Bradshaw recently turning heel and being pissed off at the world, and deciding to take it out on Vader's beef. Bradshaw's lost his mustache in the heel turn. He's all business going in. The basic visual of this definitely brings you back to the Vader/Stan Hansen classics in Japan which I'm sure was intentional. Lockup stalemate. Bradshaw gets Vader in the corner and goes into stiff beatdown mode, including a wicked hard chop. Huge corner clothesline. Slam and elbow drop for 2. Vader flat RUNS OVER Bradshaw with a tackle! Big splash for 2. Bradshaw gets a big boot and 360 clotheslines Vader to the floor. Post shot for Vader and another clothesline. Bradshaw gives him a couple of bell shots. Clothesline and cover on the floor for 2. Vader ducks and Bradshaw punches the post. Vader headbutts him and drops the steps on Bradshaw. They get back in the ring with Bradshaw taking control back and hitting a Saito suplex. Vader ducks a charge and Bradshaw goes over the top to the floor. Low blow from Vader in the aisle and cover for 2. Vader takes Bradshaw back in the ring and sets him up in the corner. Splash off the second rope. No cover. Vader points up. But which move is he thinking? The Vader Bomb hits! Bradshaw kicks out! Another huge clothesline from Bradshaw. Vader kicks out! Another, as JR is now calling it, clothesline from hell. Bradshaw wraps Vader's arm, hits a neckbreaker, and gets the pin. It certainly didn't take advantage of the stipulation as well as it could have but it had the moments of crazy stiffness you'd expect from these two. Crowd didn't give a damn either. And that, folks, is Vader's last WWF PPV match. He'd put Edge over on TV on his way out, then head back to Japan (though All Japan and NOAH instead of New Japan) for his last full time run and close out the career of the greatest big man of all time. **1/4

 

D'Lo Brown def Gangrel in 7:46- JR calls the PPV debuting Gangrel a "strange son of a gun". Putting it mildly. Yes, Brown is still wearing the chest protector. He lost the European title to X-Pac on the most recent Raw and is extra ornery tonight because of it. Gangrel charges before the bell but Brown avoids him. Back elbow from Gangrel. He blocks a Brown hiptoss into a belly to belly suplex and hits elbow drops. Brown responds with a spinning heel kick and classic Brown head waggle jawing. Brown goes into beatdown mode for a bit. Gangrel dodges an elbow off the second rope. Brown gets a sneaky style (copyright Rocky Romero) low blow in. Huge Ligerbomb from Brown! He gets up on the ropes to play to the crowd before covering and Gangrel kicks out. Gangrel dodges in the corner. Brown blocks a DDT. Suplex for 2. More Brown jawing. Gangrel hits forearms and a clothesline. Brown jackknife cover for 2. Gangrel fights Brown off the second rope for 2. Samoan drop from Brown for 2. They completely blow a hot shot as Mark Henry makes his way down. Gangrel hits a clotheslineish move off the top for 2. Henry pulls the top rope down and Gangrel tumbles to the floor. He runs Gangrel into the post. Brown plants Gangrel with the Low Down spinebuster and gets the pin. After the bell Gangrel gives Henry a face full of blood mist and DDTs Brown. I won't fault the effort, both guys were definitely trying, but like the tag match it was spotty with no glue to hold any of it together, and sloppy in parts. **

On a previous Raw the Rock, Mankind and Shamrock had a triple threat match to determine the #1 contender to the WWF Title that was completely ruined by the Undertaker and Kane, so tonight they're doing it again inside a steel cage. Hey, it's the blue bar cage still! And it's being lowered from the ceiling! Guess it wasn't too heavy after all. Weird to see the blue bar cage with that hanging apparatus on the top of it we're used to seeing on the more "normal" chain link cage. While the cage is being prepped all three guys get promo time. It's a good thing they let Shamrock go first, because the other two verbally leave him in the dust. Mankind even does a bit of fourth wall breaking, saying he refuses to sell that "abortion of a move", the People's Elbow.

 

WWF Championship #1 Contender Triple Threat Steel Cage Match: The Rock def Mankind and Ken Shamrock in 18:47- Face Shamrock gets almost zero reaction from the Canadian crowd. Face Mankind gets an OK pop. Heel Rock almost blows the roof off the place. Don't look now, but that poster child for "too much, too soon" Rocky Maivia is in serious danger of becoming popular. It's pin/submit or escape rules tonight. Rock goes right for old rival Shamrock but Shamrock was ready for him. Rock does the ol' eye poke to take control. Mankind takes advantage to try to sneak out the door while no one's looking. Rock intercepts him. Mankind lets Rock and Shamrock go at it a bit more before picking his spot to dive in. As Mankind's shirt comes undone we see he's wearing his Dude Love shirt underneath, but the Dudester doesn't come out in full for this match. Mankind running corner knee on Shamrock. Rock clothesline on Mankind. Shamrock pummels Rock with knees. He puts an abdominal stretch on Mankind. Rock sneaks from behind and puts Shamrock in an abdominal stretch! Double stretch! Both of them are hiptossed out of. All three guys reset and stand off. Rock tries to make a deal with Mankind to team up....then attacks Mankind! Mankind has the first climb attempt of the match. Rock stops him. Shamrock gets half out the door and Rock stops him too. Both Rock and Mankind finally get Shamrock down for an extended period. Shamrock takes the first cage shot. Not a lot of that in this match. The blue bar cage is kind of juryrigged up there, they're probably playing it safe to make sure it doesn't collapse. Rock and Mankind hit some nicely coordinated double teams. They might make an OK tag team one day. Eventually Rock has enough and attacks Mankind. That's going to be a recurring theme between them for years. Now Rock and Shamrock strike a truce to team up on Mankind. Shamrock puts the ankle lock on. Rock quickly breaks it up. Now Shamrock and Mankind double team on Rock. The crowd does not like that at all. Double backdrop. Double suplex. Clotheslines all around. Rock DDT on Mankind. Spinny DDT on Shamrock. Setup slam. And a setup slam for Mankind! They're both set up! The elbow pad comes off as the crowd comes completely unglued! Double People's Elbow! Hey, Mankind sold it after all. Rock starts to climb. The other two pull him back in and Rock gets crotched on the top rope. He comes back up with a low blow on Shamrock. Charge from Mankind....right into a Rock Bottom! Rock covers but Shamrock breaks the pin up. Huge "Shamrock sucks" chant as commentary starts to refer to Canada as Bizzaro World for I think the first time ever. Certainly won't be the last. Shamrock belly to belly on Rock! Ankle lock! Rock fights it and Mankind breaks it up to a big cheer. Mankind climbs again. Rock goes up to stop him. Mankind gets over the top and dangles while Rock hangs onto him. Rock gets him back up and they slug it out while sitting on top of the cage. Shamrock joins in and he and Rock go down in the ring. Mankind is all alone up top! But he doesn't go down to win. Instead he stands on top of the cage! JR says Mankind thinks he's Jimmy Snuka. Cactus Elbow off the top of the cage! Rock dodges and Mankind splats on the mat! Rock is bleeding right on top of the People's Eyebrow. Not sure when that happened. Shamrock goes for the door. Mankind crawls over and stops him. Somehow Shamrock gets a chair (clearly planted for him) and brings it into the ring. Mankind dodges and Shamrock hits the cage with the chair! Double underhook DDT! Mankind chairshot to Shamrock's face! He starts climbing. But while he does, Rock crawls over and covers Shamrock! While Mankind is halfway down the cage, Rock gets a 3 count and wins! Mankind is confused at first and thinks he won by escape, then hears Fink's announcement and loses it. Tremendous finish. The match started a bit slow, but once they got going they got going great. They're starting to figure this triple threat thing out. Put this performance and crowd reaction together with the ladder match from Summerslam and Rock has pretty much punched his ticket to the main event, though with all the shenanigans that were about to go down with the WWF Title he wouldn't get the title shot he won here. ***3/4

Ad for the next PPV, which will be the first ever Judgment Day. While commentary tries to hype up the next match Shamrock is completely losing it in and around the ring.

 

Val Venus (w/Terri Runnels) def Dustin Runnels in 9:09- This is another pure Russo trash TV inspired feud. OK, bear with me here. Dustin Rhodes, the former Goldust, has had another personality change and is now wrestling under his real life name and has assumed the gimmick of an over the top preacher. Venus shocked Dustin and the world by revealing that he's been fucking (WWF won't go all the way R rated and say the word but I will) Dustin's real life wife Terri, the former Marlena who had been away from WWF since her whole also Russoriffic angle with Brian Pillman ended after Pillman's death. Needless to say Dustin was devastated, and here we are. And it gets even crazier after this but we'll get to that when it happens. Venus introduces Terri, who was appearing unannounced. She comes out in a fairly skimpy outfit and she and Venus fondle each other all the way to the ring. Dustin tries to jump Venus when he gets in the ring but Venus dodges and hits a spinebuster. Dustin responds with a faceplant and powerbomb. A sloppy Venus shot sends Dustin outside and Venus clotheslines him in the aisle with an attempt at a 360 sell. Back in Dustin hits a backdrop. Venus hits chops and running knees. Russian leg sweep and hip swivel mock. Venus puts on a camel clutch for a bit. He stays aggressive after Dustin gets out. They go to the floor and Venus drops Dustin on the announce table. Back in Dustin blocks and hits a suplex. Venus dodges a legdrop for 2. The crowd gets distracted by something and Venus kills time with a chinlock. Dustin's comeback is cut off with a clothesline. Dustin maneuvers into a DDT. Venus goes for a superplex. Dustin tries to block it, so Venus drops him down to the floor! Afterward Dustin tosses Venus over the top to the floor. Venus gets distracted by Terri and they go into high school groping mode again with Dustin barely able to stand it. Venus sneaks around and rolls Dustin up for 2. Dustin counters a hiptoss into the bulldog! He's slow to cover. The ref counts two even though Venus doesn't kick out! Someone frakked up big time there. The crowd boos. Venus hits a powerslam, drops some elbows, and hits the Money Shot to finish it. This never came together, with many of the same spottiness issues as the previous undercard matches and that end of match non-kickout was fugly. *1/4

JR: "Remember that time Jeff Jarrett used a guitar?". Are you serious? Jeff Jarrett has broken more guitars than Mark McGwire has crushed home runs. There's a very 1998 reference for you.

 

D-Generation X def Jeff Jarrett & Southern Justice in 11:17- It's new European champ X-Pac and tag champs the New Age Outlaws representing DX tonight. Triple H is out with a legitimate knee injury suffered during or right after the Summerslam ladder match where he won the Intercontinental title, an injury that would force him to vacate that title soon after this. After losing a hair vs hair match at Summerslam to Pac Jarrett now has the short hair look he'd carry for the rest of his career. His persona has also stepped up in edginess, with "Don't piss me off" written on his shirt and guitar. The Outlaws jump the heels from behind in the ring during their entrance. Big brawl and the faces clear the ring. Jarrett sneaks back in and jumps Pac. Slide under and dropkick from Jarrett. Pac powerbomb counter for 2. Dogg tags in and works Jarrett over. Canterbury rakes Dogg's eyes from the apron and SJ pound Dogg down. Dogg tries to come back with his dancing jabs but Canterbury kills him with a clothesline. Jarrett DDT. Corner collision and Dogg gets a tag to Pac. Pac spinning heel kick on Jarrett. He tries one on Knight but gets caught and slammed. Big delayed suplex from Knight for 2. Jarrett powerslam for 2. Big splash from Canterbury for 2. Pac continues as Degenerate in Peril for a bit. Jarrett hooks on a sleeper. They do the arm drops. Pac fights back up, they have some sleeper counters, and Pac hits a back suplex. Tag to Gunn, his first time in the whole match. Gunn takes everyone out. DONNYBROOK! JR calls Gunn the "best pure athlete" in the WWF. The buttering up has begun. Pac Bronco Busters Jarrett. Canterbury takes Pac out. Jarrett tries to bring the guitar in but Gunn takes it away. Ref Tim White then takes it from Gunn. SJ work Gunn over. Jarrett nails Pac with the guitar on the floor! Gunn hits, er, one of the SJ guys (I've probably been getting them backwards most of the match but I'm honestly not too concerned about it) with the fameasser and gets the pin. Gee, I wonder who of this DX group WWF was considering giving a mega singles push to? After the match Pac's eye is hurt from the guitar shot. **1/4

 

Triple Threat Match for the WWF Championship: The Undertaker and Kane def "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (c) in 22:05- Per Vince's deck stacking edict, both Taker and Kane are only allowed to pin Austin, not each other, making this a de facto handicap match. Vince has also ordered that if anyone interferes on Austin's behalf the match will be immediately stopped and Austin stripped of the title. Kane comes out first. While Taker's coming out Austin attacks him from behind with a chair! Kane takes a chairshot, and he and Austin brawl down the aisle into the ring. Once in Kane hits a back elbow and slam. Austin dodges Kane coming off the top rope while Taker is strolling toward the ring with the chair. Austin gets tossed over the top to the floor where Taker is waiting. After some shots Austin reverses a whip and sends Taker into the steps, then he crotches Kane on the post. JR: "Undertaker may never be an uncle now". Stunner on Kane! Taker pulls Austin back out to break up the pin. Austin gets posted. Taker beats Austin down in the ring while Kane is still down from the Stunner. Flying clothesline from Taker and Kane finally starts to stir. Austin Thesz Press! He clotheslines Kane 360 to the floor. Swinging neckbreaker on Taker for 2. Austin keeps Kane on the floor while he works Taker over. Kane grabs Austin and drags him out to the floor. Taker accidentally hits Kane! Uh oh. While they're discussing things Austin pushes Taker into Kane! Austin gets a TV cable and chokes Kane with it. Taker gets some more cable and chokes Austin with it! It's a double layer choke. After everyone untangles Taker and Kane drop Austin on the Spanish announce table. The Taker/Kane double teaming is starting to become too much for Austin. Vince's stooges (Gerald Brisco, Pat Patterson and Commissioner Slaughter) poke their heads out to see how things are going. The Austin beatdown continues on the floor and they work up the aisle. Austin gets a comeback flurry up by the stage. Taker backdrops him on the floor. Austin sees the stooges and leaps on top of Brisco! Slaughter and Taker get him off. Kane tosses Brisco aside. Austin gets dragged back to the ring where the double team continues with Austin completely grounded. Kane turns around to intimidate Hebner, giving Austin an opening to attack Taker and start to get his wind back. A Taker throat punch puts him down again. Austin gets another chair on the floor. He nails Kane with it! Cover. Taker breaks it up with a chairshot on Austin. Taker covers. Kane pulls him off! That sets off another discussion. Taker drapes Austin across the top rope and Kane comes off the top to knock him off. Kane covers. Taker pulls him off! More discussion. Taker attacks Kane from behind! Kane and Austin bounce Taker around with punches. After a big boot and 360 clothesline Austin jumps on Kane. Russian leg sweep for 2. Kane hits a headbutt. Taker and Kane get Austin back down and seemingly sort things out between them. Kane beats Austin down on the floor. Back in both guys try for pins with the other breaking it up. Guess it's not sorted after all. Staredown. Taker hits Kane! Slugfest. Double clothesline! The door's open for Austin! He knocks Taker out of the ring. Kane slams Austin but misses an elbow drop. Taker gets crotched on the top rope. Austin goes for the Stunner. After some obvious maneuvering Kane pushes Austin off into Taker's big boot. Double team chokeslam on Austin! Both Taker and Kane cover him, and get the pin! Fink: "The winner of this match, and NEWWWWWWWWW World Wrestling Federation Champion.....".......no one's sure. Vince comes out, tells Brisco to get the belt, and runs off with it all the way into his limo and out of the arena. While that's happening Austin takes the stooges out. The camera follows Austin to the back. Vince's limo is stopped outside the arena. Vince gets out, gloats at Austin that he's lost the belt, flips him off, gets back in and leaves. End show. I see what they were going for, but didn't pull it off quite as well as they could have. Not a bad match, just OK. And once again, PPV is being used to set up TV instead of the other way around because in the Monday Night War days those weekly ratings sheets meant just as much as PPV buys, if not more. **1/2

 

The next night on Raw Vince held a presentation ceremony to name a new WWF Champion between Taker and Kane (which also featured the original Winged Eagle belt in its final official appearance). But before he could, Austin crashed the ceremony driving a zamboni, attacked Vince, and got arrested for about the 47th time that year. Afterward Vince held Taker and Kane responsible for not stopping Austin's attack, so instead of awarding the title to one of them he set up a rematch for Judgment Day. 

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: For an Attitude Era B PPV this isn't too shabby. There's no out and out disasters, a couple of good matches that are tentpoles in the early careers of both Edge and the Rock, a decent main event with important WWF Title developments even if it was the "PPV setting up TV" syndrome, and crazy Russo trash TV stuff like the Dustin/Venus feud is usually worth a laugh.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C